List of United States presidential vetoes

In the United States, the term "veto" is used to describe an action by which the president prevents an act passed by Congress from becoming law. This article provides a summary and details of the bills vetoed by presidents.

Veto procedure

Although the term "veto" does not appear in the United States Constitution, Article I requires each bill and joint resolution (except joint resolutions proposing a constitutional amendment) approved by the Congress to be presented to the president for his approval. Once the bill is presented to the president, there are several scenarios which may play out:

The president may sign the bill into law within ten days (excluding Sundays).

The president may veto the bill by returning it to Congress with a statement of objections within ten days (excluding Sundays). If the president vetoes a bill, the Congress shall reconsider it (together with the president's objections), and if both houses of the Congress vote to pass the law again by a two-thirds majority of members voting, then the bill becomes law, notwithstanding the president's veto. (The term "override" is used to describe this process of overcoming a presidential veto.)

If the president does nothing with the bill (neither signing it nor returning it to Congress with objections) and Congress does not by its adjournment prevent the bill's return, then the bill becomes law after ten days (excluding Sundays).

If the president does nothing with the bill and before the tenth day (excluding Sundays) Congress has adjourned in such a way as to prevent the bill being returned, then the bill expires and does not become law. The term "pocket veto" is used to describe this practice. Pocket vetoes cannot be overridden, so if the Congress still wants the piece of legislation enacted, a new bill must be introduced and passed (at which point it would again be subject to a veto).